This can be information about your characters, the setting, important events, or historically significant events that contributes to your story.įor example, if your protagonist is a recently divorced woman, telling or showing the reader what led to the divorce before your story began is exposition. What is exposition in writing?Įxposition is a literary device that communicates key information to your reader.
EXPOSITION STORY HOW TO
But what is exposition, exactly, and how can you find the perfect balance for your story? Let’s explore how to use exposition in the best possible way to take your writing to the next level. It’s no exaggeration to say that managing exposition is one of the most difficult skills in writing-even experienced novelists often need a pumped-up playlist and an extra-strong cup of tea when tackling this precarious, necessary evil of storytelling. Exposition that’s used poorly, however, can drag down a brilliant idea and turn it into something unreadable. Exposition that’s artfully placed throughout the narrative with just the right balance of discovery and suspense can elevate an average novel into a bestseller. How to Use ProWritingAid Join over 1.5 million authors, editors, copywriters, students and business professionals who already use ProWritingAid to improve their writing.Exposition in writing can make or break a story. Use ProWritingAid to help speed up the editing process.įind everything you need to know about using ProWritingAid in our Ultimate Guide. However, if several paragraphs are highlighted in sequence, it might be a good idea to break them up with some action. Just because a paragraph is highlighted doesn't mean it needs changing. Think of the Pacing Check as a tool you can use to learn more about your manuscript, rather than a dictator telling you to change everything.
EXPOSITION STORY SOFTWARE
When you run the Pacing Check, the software will highlight areas it identifies as introspection and backstory. Too many slower paced paragraphs in a row and your reader’s attention may wane. ProWritingAid’s Pacing Check finds those areas in your writing that are paced more slowly so that you can spread them out. You can find your voice in your exposition, instead of losing your characters in a meandering tale that only makes sense inside your head.Įxplore, play, have fun! Keep your story moving forward – your writing will follow. The broadness of expository writing gives you a chance to play with style, voice and intention. Without exposition, the story you want to tell is just a jumble of random things that happen.
You may have multi-dimensional characters and a riveting plot, but without expository writing skills, you are lost. In SummaryĪs you can see, exposition is critically important to master when writing a story. When writing exposition there are some simple “dos” and “don’ts”.ĭO use vivid descriptions to relay important information to your reader.ĭO use dialogue as a way to explore character motive and conflict.ĭO use the actions of your characters to tell the story.ĭON’T over-explain the actions and situations your characters find themselves in.ĭON’T explain everything at once, rather let your story unfold organically. The expository nature of the opening lines of the play set the scene, and pique our interest in the story. We don’t know who the central characters are exactly, and we don’t know what violent event erupts from the conflict – but we want to! The other key aspect of this example is that it leaves plenty to be revealed. Shakespeare is a master of exposition, as you can see from the above excerpt from Romeo and Juliet.įrom these four lines (which combine to complete one single sentence) we learn where the play is set (Verona, Italy), the background of the characters in the tale (wealthy, civilized,) and the very basic premise of the conflict (warring households). Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. Expository passages are where you cultivate your voice, and there are many ways to successfully “‘set forth the meaning and purpose” of your story. Good writing is actually the same thing as good exposition. Expository writing is often criticised for over-explaining a situation, yet it’s one of the most important aspects of all writing genres. In other words, exposition provides crucial information about the characters, their motives and the setting of your story. Any and all storytelling requires exposition – the explanation of how Character X got from Point A to Point B and then later to Point C.
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